'\" t
.\"     Title: gshadow
.\"    Author: Nicolas François <nicolas.francois@centraliens.net>
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 06/18/2024
.\"    Manual: File Formats and Configuration Files
.\"    Source: shadow-utils 4.16.0
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "GSHADOW" "5" "06/18/2024" "shadow\-utils 4\&.16\&.0" "File Formats and Configuration"
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.SH "NAME"
gshadow \- shadowed group file
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
/etc/gshadow
contains the shadowed information for group accounts\&.
.PP
This file must not be readable by regular users if password security is to be maintained\&.
.PP
Each line of this file contains the following colon\-separated fields:
.PP
\fBgroup name\fR
.RS 4
It must be a valid group name, which exist on the system\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBencrypted password\fR
.RS 4
Refer to
\fBcrypt\fR(3)
for details on how this string is interpreted\&.
.sp
If the password field contains some string that is not a valid result of
\fBcrypt\fR(3), for instance ! or *, users will not be able to use a unix password to access the group (but group members do not need the password)\&.
.sp
The password is used when a user who is not a member of the group wants to gain the permissions of this group (see
\fBnewgrp\fR(1))\&.
.sp
This field may be empty, in which case only the group members can gain the group permissions\&.
.sp
A password field which starts with an exclamation mark means that the password is locked\&. The remaining characters on the line represent the password field before the password was locked\&.
.sp
This password supersedes any password specified in
/etc/group\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBadministrators\fR
.RS 4
It must be a comma\-separated list of user names\&.
.sp
Administrators can change the password or the members of the group\&.
.sp
Administrators also have the same permissions as the members (see below)\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBmembers\fR
.RS 4
It must be a comma\-separated list of user names\&.
.sp
Members can access the group without being prompted for a password\&.
.sp
You should use the same list of users as in
/etc/group\&.
.RE
.SH "FILES"
.PP
/etc/group
.RS 4
Group account information\&.
.RE
.PP
/etc/gshadow
.RS 4
Secure group account information\&.
.RE
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
\fBgpasswd\fR(5),
\fBgroup\fR(5),
\fBgrpck\fR(8),
\fBgrpconv\fR(8),
\fBnewgrp\fR(1)\&.
